A few things we try to stick to
This curriculum came out of going into classrooms ourselves. Four ideas shape how we run it, and they're baked into how the lessons are written.
1. Go where science usually doesn't
We focus on schools and programs that don't get many outside science visits, and we bring everything to them. Showing up in the classroom skips the field-trip costs, travel, and permission slips that keep a lot of kids out of university programs.
2. Start with their questions, not our script
Kids always have questions: why the tap water's brown, whether you could make a plant glow, whether strawberries have DNA... We build the session around those instead of lecturing. It ends up being a conversation and investigation, and the questions they come up with are usually better than ours.
3. Do first, explain after
This builds on 2. Every lesson has something to build, extract, or argue about, whether that's spooling real DNA, snapping a helix together, or pitching their own engineered microbe. Kids remember the thing they did far more than anything we say, and they leave with a story to tell.
4. Keep it free and easy to copy
All the slides, worksheets, and supply lists are free to use and change however you want. That way the lessons keep running after we leave, and any other team can just pick them up. This whole site is that idea in practice.
How a typical visit runs
- If it's your first time with the class, open with the 10-minute intro to set up DNA and synthetic biology, and to get the kids' own problem ideas on the table.
- Run one or two hands-on lessons from the menu, picked to fit the grade level and the time you have.
- Close with a short debrief that ties the activity back to real synthetic biology. Each lesson includes a few questions for you to use, but it's best to let the kids' interests guide the conversation.